Grasselli Library Invites Visitors to One of Three Open Houses

The faculty and staff of Grasselli Library and Breen Learning Center invite visitors to drop in at one of our Open Houses next week:

• Tuesday, September 5 from 11 AM to 1 PM
• Wednesday, September 6 from 6 PM to 8 PM
• Thursday, September 7 from 3 PM to 5 PM

Take the opportunity to meet members of the Grasselli Library staff and learn a bit about our services and resources. We’ll have snacks and bottled water on hand for all visitors.

At the open house, students will also be able to register the library barcode on the back of your JCU ID card with the Grasselli Circulation Desk. Once you do this you will have full access to the library’s online databases and OhioLINK borrowing privileges. In addition, freshmen who register their barcode during the open house will be entered in a drawing for dozens of prizes which include gift cards from area merchants and library fine waiver certificates worth $5 each. The drawing will take place on Thursday, September 7^th at 5 PM and the winners announced on Friday the 8^th. Students don’t need to be present at the drawing to win, but do need to stop by one of the open houses to be part of the drawing.

We’re here to help you be a success in your studies. The library’s reference desk should be your first stop when organizing your research. We'll save you time, and help you find resources that can help you get an A+ on your next paper. We have plenty of group and individual study spaces. Our Computer Commons, Multimedia Center and laptop computer loans can put technology at your fingertips. Our new motto is “You can find it...We can help!” Give us the time and we will make it worth your while.

Wishing you all the best at JCU,
The Grasselli Library Staff

Grasselli Library Develops Browser Toolbar to Help Search the Online Collections.

Speed up and improve your research and Web browsing. Have Grasselli Library online resources on your desktop and at your fingertips while you’re online. Download the Grasselli Library Toolbar and install it on your web browser. The toolbar is free and easily installed to either Internet Explorer or Firefox. What can you do with the toolbar? The toolbar includes a search box that will search Carrolline, the Grasselli online catalog, the OhioLINK catalog, the ElectronicJournal Center, various Google searches, a dictionary, Britannica Online and several other popular web searches. Drop down menus and buttons link to current news and weather. Search for books, articles, digital media or online course material from the library’s online collections. Search the JCU staff, faculty and student directories. Need research help when the Grasselli reference desk is closed? The OhioLINK 24 hr chat reference service is just a click away. Install and test drive the toolbar today at http://grassellilibrary.mylibrarytoolbar.com/

Welcome Back to Campus

The faculty and staff of John Carroll’s Grasselli Library and Breen Learning Center welcome all new and returning students back to campus. We’re here to help you be a success in your studies. The library’s reference staff should be your first stop when organizing your research. We'll save you time, and help you find resources that can help you get an A+ on your next paper. We have plenty of group and individual study spaces. Our Computer Commons, Multimedia Center and laptop computer loans can put technology at your fingertips. Can’t find what you need in our collection of 600,000 volumes? Request it from the OhioLINK catalog of over 4 million items and have it delivered from any of over 80 university and research libraries to the Circulation Desk in three or four days. Our Interlibrary Loan Department can help you borrow items from libraries around the world. Stop by the library circulation desk as soon as you can to have the library barcode from your JCU ID entered into your library record. The barcode is your key to the Grasselli Library’s online services.

Electronic Reserve Request Form Online

Faculty: A new form has been posted to the Grasselli Library web site. This is a request form to have an article posted to our E-Res electronic reserve system. The new form submits the same information as before, but can be completed using MS Word. This form can then be printed out, submitted and/or saved for future reference. Now is the time to submit articles for electronic reserve to allow enough time for digitization, posting, and, if necessary, copyright clearance. Contact Ellen Valentine for more information: evalentine@jcu.edu, x4965

Extra, Extra - Read All About It - Newspapers Online at JCU

Did you know you can read newspapers from Ohio and around the nation right from your desktop?

America's Newspapers contains the full text for 17 Ohio newspapers, including the Akron Beacon Journal, Toledo Blade, Cincinnati Enquirer, The Cincinnati Post, Dayton Daily News and The Plain Dealer.

America's Newspapers can also connect you to popular national papers like the Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free Press, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Washington Post.

Newspaper Source is another good place to try. It contains selected full text for 245 regional U.S. newspapers, eighteen international newspapers, six newswires, nine newspaper columns, and cover-to-cover full text for The Christian Science Monitor and The Los Angeles Times.

The best part is, Grasselli Library has already purchased access to these resources, so there's no subscriptions to buy and you can access the archives.

New Online Film & Television Literature Index

We now have access to the Film & Television Literature Index from EBSCO. Later this year, it will be upgraded to the Full Text version. Film & Television Literature Index is a comprehensive bibliographic database covering the entire spectrum of television and film writing. It has been designed for use by a diverse audience that includes film scholars, college students, and general viewers. Publications include Film Journal International, Journal of British Cinema & Television, Film Criticism, Post Script, Variety, and more as well as technical publications such as SMPTE. Mirroring the international film & television industries and cultures, FTLI also includes publications such as Cahiers du Cinema, Filmihullu, SegnoCinema, and Kinetoscopio. Subject coverage includes film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews.

Eight New Titles Added to the Reference E-Book Collection

Need a quick fact, illustration or overview of a topic? Try the Electronic Reference Books Collection, which now contains 490 reference books, including encyclopedias, handbooks, biographical collections and guides. These titles are available from on campus, or off-campus with authentication.

Eight new titles have been added to the Electronic Reference Books Collection:

• Gun Control in the United States: A Reference Handbook
• Hip Hop Culture
• History in the Media: Film and Television
• Human Rights Worldwide: A Reference Handbook
• The Rehnquist Court: Justices, Rulings, and Legacy
• Revolutionary Movements: From 1750 to the Present
• Women and War: A Historical Encyclopedia from Antiquity to the Present
• World Population: A Reference Handbook

Looking for more e-books? Try these other e-book collections available to the JCU Communicty: History E-Book Project, netLibrary, Oxford Reference Online Premium Collection and the Safari Tech Books Online Collection.

New Literature Databases

Over the past few weeks we've posted information regarding changes to the databases that Grasselli Library provides to the John Carroll University community. If you have any questions, please contact the library liaison in the appropriate subject area or call the Reference Desk (x4234).

Grasselli Library, along with the other OhioLINK members, now has access to Ebsco’s Literary Reference Center, a comprehensive database that provides users with a broad spectrum of information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and timeframes. Includes plot summaries, author biographies, author interviews, book reviews, poems, short stories, and images. In addition, Grasselli has bought Gale’s Literature Resource Center and Scribner Writers Series . The Literary Resource Center contains biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism and reviews on nearly 130,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world. It incorporates other Gale series, such as Contemporary Authors, the Dictionary of Literary Biography, and most of the literature criticism series. The Scribner Writers Series includes 15-20 page signed essays on more than 1,600 authors and literary genres drawn from 13 acclaimed Scribner print series. These changes, coupled with our existing database subscriptions, will increase the amount of material available to faculty and students in support of John Carroll’s curricular needs.

Guidelines for Creating Effective Library Assignments

Throughout the summer, Grasselli Library is keeping the John Carroll University community informed of the new online resources and services now available through the library web pages. This fall, students will find that their access to full-text and bibliographic databases has greatly expanded. As faculty prepare for fall classes, now is an excellent time to consider or to reconsider a library-related assignment.

We've created some guidelines that can help make library assignments more effective. These guidelines were developed by librarians for creating more effective library-related assignments. The information is based on experiences we have had with helping students. Also included are some links to sample assignments and to Web evaluation criteria. We hope you will find these guidelines helpful.

Grasselli Library librarians are available to help. Contact your departmental liaison or the reference desk at x4234.

Changes to General databases

Over the next few weeks we will be releasing information regarding changes to the databases that Grasselli Library provides to John Carroll University. If you have any questions, please contact the library liaison in the appropriate subject area or call the Reference Desk (x4234).

Grasselli Library, along with the other OhioLINK members, now has access to Garden, Landscape & Horticulture Index, Gender Studies Database, GLBT Life with full-text, Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with full-text, and Women’s Studies International databases. Biography Index, Book Review Digest, and Essay and General Literature Index are no longer available. These changes, coupled with our existing database subscriptions, will increase the amount of material available to faculty and students in support of John Carroll’s curricular needs.

Taking the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, or MCAT? We can help.

Practice makes perfect! Take a GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT or many other practice tests anytime, anywhere using LearningExpress Library. LearningExpress’ online, interactive practice tests offer instant scoring, detailed answer explanations, and a personalized analysis that identifies your strengths and weaknesses in each major content area so you’ll know how to prepare.

LearningExpress also includes career building tools and writing aids. To use LearningExpress Library, you first set up your own individual account. If you are off-campus, the link from the Grasselli Library web site (http://0-www.learningexpresslibrary.com.library.jcu.edu/) and authenticate with your name and library barcode number to connect to LearningExpress, and then log into LearningExpress with your individual username and password.

LearningExpress Library is available to all OhioLINK users and all Ohioans as part of the Ohio Web Library.

Changes to Humanities related databases

Over the next few weeks we will be releasing information regarding changes to the databases that Grasselli Library provides to John Carroll University. If you have any questions, please contact the library liaison in the appropriate subject area or call the Reference Desk (x4234).

Grasselli Library, along with the other OhioLINK members, is pleased to upgrade Art Abstracts to a full-text version and Humanities International Index to the full-text Humanities International Complete. This upgrade replaces Humanities Abstracts. Grasselli Library offers a new database, the Literary Reference Center, providing information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and timeframes. The International Bibliography of Theater & Dance with full-text also takes its place on the database list this summer. These changes, coupled with our existing database subscriptions, will increase the amount of material available to faculty and students in support of John Carroll’s curricular needs.